Editor's Note: Make Ballet Sales Soar

Ballet is the heart and soul of dance retail. It’s the reason most of your stores are coated in pink paint and why more than 75 percent of your merchandise features frills, ruffles or tulle. Ballet customers include babies, school-age dancers, pre-professional students and teachers. And the money they dish out for apparel, shoes and accessories makes up the bulk of your revenue. With so much riding on one category, there’s no room for error. That’s why DRN dedicates an entire issue to the ballet business. From the hottest dancewear styles to the best new business moves, we’ll show you how to boost your ballet sales.

To help you plan 2012 orders, we talked to top dancewear makers to find out what’s new and what’s selling. In “Ballet Fever” (pg. 20), get the inside scoop on the latest fashionable and sophisticated ballet looks. Then stock up on the season’s prettiest knitwear to keep aspiring ballerinas warm. Whether you’ve got a beginner or an advanced student, assistant editor Kristin Schwab found the best styles in “Winter Warmers” (pg. 16). And don’t forget to fill your shelves with all the extras—like toe pads, ribbons and tape—that dancers can’t live without. In “Dance Bag Essentials” (pg. 14), we show you the best new options for these must-haves.

Placing the smartest orders is only half the job. Increase your marketing and promotional efforts to meet higher sales goals. In “Effective E-mail Campaigns” (pg. 24), retailers offer their ideas for creating messages that really do get read. And in “The Do’s and Don’ts of a Group Fitting” (pg. 34), we show you the best ways to run a lucrative pointe shoe event—without hassles or stress.